Teleology Holdings Limited, promoted by Adrian Wood, former CEO of MTN Nigeria, is the preferred bidder for 9mobile, TheCable can report.Smile Telecoms Holdings, a telco operating in Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Congo DR and South Africa, is the reserve bidder.While Teleology put in a bid of $500 million, Smile quoted $300 million.However, TheCable understands that both companies will be given 30 days [...]

Airtel Nigeria did not submit a final bid for 9mobile despite being on the shortlist of five, TheCable can report.Also, although Globacom and Helios Investment Partners LLP submitted bids, they did not make any financial offer for the troubled telco.TheCable understands that Teleology Holdings Limited submitted a bid in excess of $500 million while Smile Telecoms Holdings quoted close to $300 million.Effectively, [...]

The ex parte motion filed by Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, to stop the national assembly from probing the recall of Abdulrasheed Maina has been stuck out by a federal high court sitting in Abuja.TheCable had reported the suit filed by Malami in what was understood to be an attempt to stop the decision of the senate to conduct [...]

Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, has filed a suit before a federal high court in Abuja, seeking to stop the senate from probing the reinstatement of Abdulrasheed Maina into the civil service.TheCable understands that the suit has been assigned to Binta Nyako, a judge of the federal high court, Abuja.Senate's decision to conduct a forensic investigation instigated Malami's court [...]

Globacom desperately wants to acquire 9mobile -- but it would take a miracle for the nation's second largest mobile network to get its wish, those with inside knowledge of the goings-on have told TheCable.The company formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria was taken over in July 2017 following a N541 billion debt overhang.Mubadala Group, the major investor from the United Arab Emirates, pulled [...]

The handling of the sale process of 9mobile by Barclays Africa, the financial advisers, has come attack from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), TheCable can report.In a joint letter to GTBank, which is the facility agent for the 9mobile syndicated loan, Umar Danbatta, the executive vice-chairman of NCC, and Godwin Emefiele, the governor [...]

More facts have emerged on the ongoing court-martial of a brigadier-general in what insiders now call an "interesting drama".Lym Hassan, who is the coordinator of peace keeping at the ministry of defence, was secretly recorded allegedly threatening to "eliminate" President Muhammadu Buhari over a defence contract.He was arraigned before the military court on October 30, 2017 and charged with two [...]

Tukur Gusau, spokesman of Mansur Dan-Ali, minister of defence, says there is no fraud in the award of the contract for the relocation and refurbishment of Nigeria's UN Level 2 Military Hospital under the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).The project has been completed and awaiting inspection by the ministry, Gusau also said in a press statement [...]

President Muhammadu Buhari's anti-corruption campaign has been bedevilled by scandals and rumours of scandals in recent times.The list has just been lengthened by a contract scandal in the ministry of defence which has landed a brigadier-general in military court.At the centre of the latest development are Mansur Dan-Ali, a retired brigadier-general and minister of defence, Danjuma Nanfo, the immediate past permanent secretary [...]

Mounir Gwarzo, director-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), allegedly got a severance package of N104 million from the same commission shortly after he was named DG in 2015.He was an executive commissioner at SEC when former President Goodluck Jonathan appointed him to lead the commission on May 22, 2015.On assuming office as DG, he allegedly paid himself the [...]

Why has Ibrahim Idris, the inspector general of police, failed to allow a new police commissioner to assume duties in Edo state since the transfer of the incumbent, Haliru Gwandu?This is at the heart of the panic that has gripped senior government officials in the state as criminal gangs unleash terror on the citizens.The criminals are believed to be those [...]

It's now official -- at least in military circles -- the organisation led by Nnamdi Kanu is a terror group.John Enenche, the director, defence information, said on Friday that the claim by Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) that it is non-violent is not true "after due professional analysis and recent developments".He listed what constitutes "terrorism" as the formation of a [...]

TheCable has obtained copies of the controversial strategic alliance agreement (SAA) between the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) Ltd and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts (AEDC) Ltd that allegedly ripped off Nigeria by billions of dollars between 2011 and 2015.The SAAs are often derided by industry experts as the biggest organised scam in the history of Nigerian oil industry.NPDC is the oil development [...]

Usman Yusuf, executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), has been suspended for three months by the minister of health, Isaac Adewole, over allegations of fraud.In a letter dated July 6, 2017 seen by TheCable, Adewole said Yusuf's response to the petitions written against him were "considered unsatisfactory".An investigative committee to probe the NHIS ES has been set [...]

TheCable, your favourite online newspaper, is three today.The website was launched with a colloquium at the Lagos City Hall on April 29, 2014 "to deliver knowledge-driven journalism in the pursuit of Nigeria’s progress".It was the first online newspaper in Nigeria to be launched with a public event.It promised to deliver news and features "with speed and simplicity" and contribute intellectually [...]

When news broke on Wednesday that Omoyele Sowore, publisher of the anti-corruption website, Sahara Reporters, had been arrested in Lagos, not a few powerful men and women in Nigeria jumped for joy. Finally, their nemesis had been "captured" and would now face the law — having been accused of blackmail and threat to life by Lekan Fatodu, a PR consultant who said [...]